by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

Who better to break down the Final Four teams than the coaches who found ways to beat them this season? USA TODAY Sports asked a collection of coaches for some insight.

SYRACUSE

Strength: "The way they extend their zone takes away your 3-point shooting and creates turnovers, which leads to their fast break offense. They get a lot of offense off their defense." â?? Villanova coach Jay Wright, who beat Syracuse 75-71 (OT) on Jan. 26

Weakness: "If you're getting shots and not turning the ball over, it limits the best part of their offense, which is their transition. Their transition game is the best because they always have their guards at the top of the zone. As soon as they get a turnover, those guards are out and the forwards are kicking the ball to them. Teams that play man-to-man, they can get their guards stuck under the basket sometimes." â?? Wright

Key player: "Michael Carter-Williams. When they're in the half-court, he's the guy who can break down the defense. He can score himself and he can create shots for his teammates. He's great in transition, but also when you're in the half-court, and they get him on the pick-and-roll or he gets a mismatch, he can score. And if anybody helps on him, he's a great passer." â?? Wright

How Villanova beat them: "Honestly, we got lucky. We got lucky in that game. They missed some free throws down the stretch and we hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put it into overtime. â?¦ They led the entire game." â?? Wright

MICHIGAN:

Strength: "Trey Burke. We knew that going into our three games we played against them somehow, some way, you've got to find a way to slow him down. You've got to take away his effectiveness and keep him out of the paint, but he can beat you in so many different ways. He's got a good mid-range game and he's an elite finisher. That's your No. 1 key." â?? Penn State coach Patrick Chambers, who beat Michigan 84-78 on Feb. 27

Weakness: "The way Mitch McGary is playing right now, I'm not sure. Maybe their bench? I guess once you get past (Jon) Horford or (Jordan) Morgan. The way we played them the first two times was we wanted McGary, Horford and Morgan to beat us. Now, you can't do that. They're playing at such a high level." â?? Chambers

"It's hard to find weaknesses with a team like Michigan. It's basically if they're not hitting shots." â?? Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, who beat Michigan twice

Key player: "Burke is going to be the guy who's going to have to make the play, but he doesn't have to make the basket. He could be the guy who creates the help and then distributes to (Nik) Stauksas or to (Tim) Hardaway Jr. or (Glenn) Robinson. The ball is going to be in Burke's hands at the end." â?? Ryan

How Wisconsin beat them twice: "We beat them here at home in spite of having 14 turnovers. â?¦ It got away from us a little bit, but we hit from the 3-point line. â?¦ We shot the three well, got to the free throw line a bunch." â?? Ryan

WICHITA STATE:

Strength: "Defense and rebounding is where their greatest strengths lie. They've been very consistent in those areas all season long. They've got the ball a little bit better in the tournament, so when you have defense and rebounding as your backbone, and you find a way to make some shots, good things are going to happen." â?? Creighton coach Greg McDermott, who beat Wichita State twice this season

Weakness: "If someone has the ability to score consistently on the block, there are some opportunities there, especially when they go to a smaller lineup. â?¦ The other area is they've had times this year where they just have not shot the ball well from the 3-point line. That had been their Achilles heel, but they seem to have remedied that problem in the tournament." â?? McDermott

Key player: "I look at Carl Hall. I think he's the tough guy, the heartbeat of that team. He's a work horse. For an undersized post, he's been tremendously productive. When he isn't scoring, he's defending like crazy. He's rebounding and running the floor." â?? Indiana State coach Greg Lansing, who beat Wichita State 68-55 on Jan. 29

How Indiana State beat Wichita State: "I don't know if it's so much the recipe now, but when we went into Wichita and we ended their 19-game (home) winning streak, we tried to change defenses, get them a little bit out of their rhythm and make them beat us from the 3-point line. They didn't shoot it very well, and we hung with them on the boards. In both of our games â?? they beat us here in a close one â?? we outrebounded them. If you do that, you've got a chance, but they've improved shooting and I don't think zones affect them as much." â?? Lansing

LOUISVILLE:

Strength: "Their ability to turn you over and create opportunities for (Russ) Smith to get to the basket in transition, and for them to get open 3-pointers in transition." â?? Villanova coach Jay Wright, who beat Louisville 73-64 on Jan. 22

Weakness: "Now, I think losing (Kevin) Ware is big for them. In their win against Oregon, Peyton Siva only played 19 minutes, and Ware had a great game. Peyton Siva was in foul trouble. We played them early in the season, and Ware was still unproven. Earlier in the season, if Siva or Smith got into foul trouble, they were vulnerable. Late in the season by the Big East tournament, Ware had developed into a big-time Big East player. They were unstoppable." â?? Wright

Key player: "Russ Smith. They create a lot of turnovers, and whether it's the front of their press or top of the zone, he's out in transition. He's so good in transition, even if they don't have numbers. He can literally go one-on-two and score. In their half-court offense, same thing. No matter how effective your defense is, he's a guy who can take the ball and create shots." â?? Wright

How Villanova beat them: "In that game, we were able to attack their pressure and get to the foul line. We were able to really attack them and get them in foul trouble and get a lot of points from the foul line. Later in the season, that didn't happen. Ware got a lot better. (Gorgui) Dieng got a lot better." â?? Wright